Autralian police chief assures security to protesting Indians

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Jun 1 (PTI) Australia's police chief on
Monday assured stepped up security for Indian students
outraged by a spate of racial attacks on them, even as he
justified the use of force to break protests by hundreds of
demonstrators here.

Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland said Australian
police was working hard towards ensuring security for Indian
students and a representative was being sent to India to
discuss security issues with prospective students.

"We have made a number of arrests this week and we will
continue to work harder," Overland said.

"We know we need to make security improvements. We will
continue to work and I am happy to meet with a delegation from
this group (protestors) this week," he said.

Overland also defended action to disperse protesters,
who refused to move from one of the busiest streets of
Melbourne till early this morning, saying the police was
"entirely justified" in using force to break up the protest.

"Violence is not OK... racism is not OK. I have come
here because I understand your concerns... you have made your
point. We need to work together on this issue... but now I ask
you to go home," he told the protestors.

Overland said there was some force used after students
were given the opportunity to leave and they refused to do so.

About 18 youths were detained for allegedly "breaching
peace" during the rally as protestors accused the police of
"ramrodding" them to break up their sit-in.

Overland said he watched from the Police Operations
Centre and he believed that what he saw was appropriate.

The students, however, called off their protest at 5.15
am (local time).

On the query if students were asked to "move on" from
their protest, he said they had already made their point and
were asked to leave because the intersection needed to be
cleared for peak hour traffic.

He said violence, against which they were protesting was
"unacceptable" and the police has been working on this issue
for 18 months with Indian students and universities.

On the recent spate of attacks on Indians, Overland said
he believed that "some of the robbery attacks are racially
motivated and others are opportunistic".

"Whatever the motivation, they are not okay, violence is
not okay, being robbed is not okay," he said, adding, that
there was no place for racism in the community.

"What has been happening to Indian students is
unacceptable and we can understand this," he said.

Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Students in Australia
(FISA), which spearheaded the massive protest here, said in a
statement that the rally was aimed at creating awareness about
increasing number of what they called 'hate crimes' in
Victoria and to promote racial harmony and peace.

Education-related travel is Australia's biggest service
export to India, valued at USD 2 billion in 2007-08, according
to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. PTI